Friday, May 30, 2014

I've been working hard on my Marcelle Medallion quilt the last few days. Border #4 required 64 flying geese units. During the assembly, one row of geese took off flying in the wrong direction. After some unsewing and speaking sternly to them, I got them to submit and go the right way.

Then today I added border #5, made up of random bricks in all of the colors. I really love where this is going!

Only three more borders to go! I may have this quilt top finished way faster than I had expected. I am going to need to find a great place to display it when it's done. I can already tell it's going to be a favorite child!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Are any of you working on a quilt for the Michael Miller Challenge through the Modern Guild? This is my very first challenge quilt & I had so much fun doing it! Even though the deadline isn't until July, The McKinney Modern Guild is sharing finished projects at our June meeting, so I made sure I finished it up early. Here it is! I am calling it "Petals in the sky with diamonds" (note the nod to the Beatles!)

I knew I wanted to do some fussy cut English paper piecing as soon as I saw these fun prints. It started out with my three stars.....

Which I then started working into a setting with three inch solid hexies. The solid I used is Michael Miller's cotton couture in seafoam. I hand pieced my whole top, which measures 12 inches along each side, total size about 22 inches square (if it was, indeed, square. which it isn't!)

and since it was hand pieced, hand quilting seemed to be the right thing to do! Have you all discovered tiger tape? My buddy Trae introduced me to it (ok, she even BOUGHT it for me!) and I love how it gives me evenly spaced, big stitch quilting lines....

I saved the "Pegs a plenty" fabric for my binding, and then decided to buy some more of it for the back. I love how it gives a stripe effect to the binding without actually being a stripe.

So there you have it. My first challenge quilt! I have seen some others coming together and they are amazing! I sure don't expect any great prizes to come my way but I'm pretty proud of what I came up with. Can't wait to see all of the others!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

You can see the awesome quilting better in this next picture. It was quilted by my friend Sandy who just got a new midarm machine. I was her first paying customer! I think she did a wonderful job....

Hubby was my photo assistant today. When we set out, it was quite cloudy and a perfect photography day. By the time we got to the park (at the end of our street!) the sun was out. Sigh! Still got some fun shots. I love the perspective in this next photo....

Monday, May 19, 2014

Why do weekends go so fast? I love having my peeps home on the weekend and doing fun things with them. This weekend, Ally & I hit up the flea market in McKinney, Texas. I've been wanting to add Milk Glass pieces to my collection and I love me some vintage pyrex. I scored on both counts this weekend! Yay!

Ally mostly went for the Kettle Corn (smart girl!).

Also on the agenda, planning for her upcoming graduation party. We had some fun at Party City & then I decided to sew some garland for decorating....

I ended up with about 6 yards of polka dot garland, paper circles (1 3/4 inches) cut out with a paper punch and sewn together on my machine. It went together so fast! There will be more of this.... stay tuned!

On Sunday I spent most of the afternoon making myself an Esme Top (pattern by Sew Liberated).

As always with Sew Liberated patterns, I loved this one! The fit is spot on and the construction is well explained. I do wish some of the seams were finished differently, but overall it's a terrific pattern.

The fabric I used is Windham Fabrics Garden Party Tango. It has the most wonderful feel & drape to it, perfect for garment sewing. I did make one change to the pattern. I did not put the band on the bottom of the sleeves as the pattern called for. I just prefer my sleeves to hang loose. I hemmed them up (by machine) a bit shorter than the pattern and I am quite happy with them. In fact, I am very happy with the whole top!

So, a productive weekend here. What about you? Did you do or make anything fun this weekend?

Sunday, May 18, 2014

I confess, I am easily distracted! I have a wonderful list of projects to work on, then I see something I like and off I go in a different direction. Recently, Laura over at Love the Bluebird has been crocheting mandalas. First I saw them popping up on her instagram. Hers are sweet and pastel and pretty. I loved them. Started looking up tutorials on Pinterest, checked out some links on her blog. Next thing I knew I was digging in my yarn stash and crocheting in circles! Of course, there are no pastels to be had in my stash. So I started with brights & maybe, just maybe, I will be adding some pretty pastels to my collection (so much for using what you have, right?)

both were pretty easy and quick to do. I'm a beginner crocheter, even though I've done it for years I never advanced past the basics! The tutorial for the second one was kind of hard to follow but I managed to figure it out!

UPDATE!
I actually found a few pastelly, dainty colors and whipped up a third mandala today! Want to see? of course you do!

This tutorial was really easy to follow and the most fun to make so far! You can find it here, at Attic 24.

Friday, May 16, 2014

I had so much fun reading all of your comments about where you learned to craft! I started to answer each and every one, then it got overwhelming! Sorry if I didn't respond to yours, but I did read and enjoy every single one! I think Moms and Grandmas were overwhelmingly the top crafty teachers, but Home Ec teachers, babysitters, Aunts and friends get a huge nod too. Many of you were inspired to learn by your children and some of you just dove in on your own.

As for me, I know I've told you about my mom before. She instilled the love of crafting in me from an early age. I have memories of her staying up late into the night finishing up Christmas and Easter dresses for my sister and I, fancy Halloween costumes, you name it! I spent many happy hours sorting her buttons, and eyeing up her supplies until she decided I was old enough to learn to sew. I'm so grateful for the things she taught me early on.

Now, let's get to the winner, shall we? Random Number Generator helped me out tonight....

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Have you noticed the cool patchwork Texas map on my sidebar lately? It's a sneak peak of things to come! This summer my blog will be just one stop on the Texas Roadtrip bloghop!

Beginning June 1, there will be lots of fun to be had! Virtually visiting quilty spots in Texas, prizes, a quiltalong to make your own patchwork Texas map, prizes, new blogs to read, prizes, new places to visit.... did I mention the prizes? This is going to be awesome!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Woohoo! Today's the day! It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! As always, I'm jumping on the giveaway train. After you're done here, you'll want to jump on over to the Sew Mama Sew blog & see what else is up for grabs. I certainly plan to! I haven't won anything the last two go arounds, so maybe this time I'll get lucky. There's always a ton of fun goodies to be had.

This year, I'm so excited to be able to offer you up a copy of the new Craft it Now book by F&W Publishing. As you can read here, I'm so honored to be included as a contributor to this fun book. (page 32 to be precise!) If you want, I'll even sign the book for the winner. Not that my signature is worth a dime! HA! in fact, if you'd rather I not mess the book up with my autograph, I'll be happy to oblige.

There will be some extra handmade crafty goodies added to the package you win! But how do I win this awesome prize, you ask? A great question! Just leave me a comment below telling me who first instilled the love of crafting in you.... make sure I have your email! If you are a no reply commenter and you don't leave me your email address I'll have to draw another name. That would be so sad! I'll draw a winner at the end of the day this Friday, May 16. If you are a follower of my blog (old or new!) leave a second comment for a second chance to win. I'll be happy to ship worldwide.

So what are you waiting for? Comment away!Comments are now closed. Giveaway has ended. thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

I promised you some prom pictures, well here you go! Here's my beautiful baby girl with her daddy before she left for the dance on Saturday night....

And here she is with all of her best buddies. Such an awesome group of kids. They had a wonderful time!

I also received some very happy mail on Saturday that I had been waiting for! I've been keeping a secret from you! I am honored to be a contributor in this new book by F&W publishing....

So many fun crafty projects by so many different contributors. Here's a peek at my page, featuring my decorative sewing pins that I love to make....

And guess what? Sew Mama Sew giveaway day is coming up on May 12! Perfect timing... I have a copy of this awesome book that I will give away to one of my blog readers with some added goodies! I just love giveaway day, don't you?

ellyn's place

Welcome to my blog! You never know what might be going on here.... sewing, weaving, crocheting & all manner of fun crafting, with a healthy dose of other quirky stuff thrown in. Glad you could make it!